Jul 9, 2008 Jul 11, 2008 Thursday July 10, 2008
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MobileMe: A First look
Filed under: Internet, Internet Tools, MobileMe We've all awaited the .Mac to MobileMe switch for a while now (some more than others). However, Apple's 6 hour time table for upgrading to MobileMe turned awry and led into an almost 24 hour up, down, up, up, down cycle.If you're like most users experiencing the 24 outage, then you haven't been able to login and experience MobileMe first hand. So why not take a look at our gallery? We've got pictures of the entire MobileMe suite of web applications and user preferences: from the login screen to storage partitioning. Gallery: MobileMe Picture WalkthroughRead|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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MobileMe .Mac Rebranding Runs Into Snafus
Daniel Eran Dilger Apple shut down its .Mac services for maintenance Wednesday night while switching over to the new MobileMe. While .Mac email continued to work with some interruptions, other services went down completely, including sync, iDisk file access, webmail, and web hosting. Attempts to access online .Mac services either presented a “this service is temporarily unavailable”page (listed with a copyright date of 2007) or redirected users to the MobileMe preview site. While some subscribers report having been able to successfully connect to the new me.com site and log in, others have seen sporadic service availability or have never been able to log into the new system. Some .Mac subscribers, when attempting to configure iDisk or sync from the Mac OS X System Preferences, are still finding that those services are offline. Attempts to connect to iDisk are blocked and users are directed to their offline copy (below). The MobileMe Software Update. Apple made available a software update for Mail and the .Mac prefpane of System Preferences. After installing the update, Leopard Mail jumps from version 3.3 (below left) to “3.4 (928)” (below right). The Address Book and iCal apps are not updated, as the push features of MobileMe are performed through Mac OS X's Sync Services, requiring no changes to the client apps themselves. While not yet available from Software Update, the update is available for download at: http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/43/32/zzz061-5009/xhMJmcKHHGWGr7kKtsdpnvw4VfD8VxbSfy/MobileMe.pkg In addition to replacing all mention of .Mac with the new MobileMe name and logo, the new version of Mail also updates existing .Mac email account settings to add an “@me.com” address; the existing “@mac.com” address remains, allowing the user to both send or receive mail using whichever address is desired. The .Mac prefpane is also updated to reflect the new MobileMe branding, although by Thursday afternoon, the MobileMe services were still not yet active for some users. Apple has previously migrated subscribers through scheduled maintenance periods or unplanned dotmac service outages in batches, so the fact that MobileMe is working for some users and not others is no surprise. The blue globe .Mac icon is now replaced with a square cloud icon, removing the somewhat confusing similarity between the .Mac icon and the Mac OS X networking icon, which was identical but grey in color. The service description has also changed to reflect the new push services and support for the iPhone and iPod touch. While MobileMe syncing and file services have been interrupted or unavailable for some subscribers, .Mac POP and IMAP email service (but not webmail) has largely been available throughout the transition, apart from some delays. However, Apple still has some bugs to work out. After updating Mail, the program reported getting an invalid security certificate because of a host name mismatch, indicating that Mail is trying to connect to mail.me.com but the certificate Apple is using is still referencing mail.mac.com (below). That's not a security issue, but does present a confusing and somewhat alarming warning to users of the service. The problems with the .Mac transition to MobileMe are being overshadowed by the release of iPhone 2.0 software, the mobile apps store added to iTunes 7.7, and the iPhone 3G release tomorrow. After updating the existing iPhone to the new 2.0 software, the Apps Store is already functioning directly to download applications, and shopping through iTunes and syncing via USB also works. AppleInsider | Apple's iPhone software v2.0 available early for brave users Given that Apple has already sold 5 million iPhones and plans to sell millions more of the 3G model in the coming months, it might come as no surprise why the Apps Store is working early while the MobileMe transition (which currently serves a couple million .Mac subscribers) is running late. However, Apple will likely make more money from selling annual $99 MobileMe subscriptions to iPhone and iPod touch users than it will from pulling in a 30% cut from mobile apps sold through the Apps Store. If you are a .Mac subscriber, report your experiences with the MobileMe transition in the comments below. [Update: Progress! Able to log in temporarily into my account at 6 AM PST, but was unable to actually bring any of the apps up. Oddly, my friend on the same network was able to log into his account and use the MobileMe apps from his iMac. At 7 AM PST, MobileMe was simply returning a new, rebranded error page (with a 2008 copyright!) : By noon PST, all MobileMe apps were functional and push messaging was working on the iPhone. In order to activate push messaging, you have to select “Mail, Calendars, and Contacts” from Settings and activate MobileMe push for each service. This erases the existing contents of your iPhone calendar, contacts and bookmarks (“Turning on contacts,” below) and then retrieves a live pushed version from MobileMe, so be sure to sync your data first so MobileMe has a full copy of all your stuff. Once push setup is complete, changes made on the desktop, on the iPhone, or online in the MobileMe apps are all kept in sync with just a delay of a few seconds. Make a change anywhere and it it relayed up to the cloud and down to your other synced devices (Mac, PC, iPhone, iPod touch, and the online apps). Pretty slick.] Apple’s Mobile Me Takes On Exchange, Mobile Mesh Filling the Unlocked iPhone Gap with .Mac I really like to hear from readers. Comment in the Forum or email me with your ideas. Like reading RoughlyDrafted? Share articles with your friends, link from your blog, and subscribe to my podcast! Submit to Reddit or Slashdot, or consider making a small donation supporting this site. Thanks!
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★ The App Store, Day One
A few random observations regarding the App Store and some of the apps: Download Counts On the iPhone’s App Store app, at the bottom of the details page for every app is a downloads count. Given that the only way to download a non-free app is to buy it, it more or less puts sales figures out in the open. These download numbers are not visible in iTunes — only in the App Store app. This is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, obviously, you can look at popular apps figure out how much money they (and Apple) have made. As I type this, Sega’s Super Monkey Ball game has been downloaded 10,955 times, and costs $9.99. That’s $109,440 in revenue in under a day — about $76K for Sega, and $33K for Apple. Second, for the handful of apps with free and paid counterparts, we can see how many people are willing to pay for the non-free version. The Iconfactory’s Twitterrific and Fraser Speirs’s Flickr client Exposure share a very similar model: both apps are available through the App Store in two forms: (a) a free version, supported by occasional ads from The Deck1, and a paid ad-free version for $9.99. As of this writing, here’s how the download counts look: Exposure 3,638 Exposure Premium 76 Twitterrific 13,638 Twitterrific Premium 322 So the ratios are very similar: 48-1 for Exposure, and 42-1 for Twitterrific. These numbers very well may change over time — for example, perhaps some users are treating the free ad-supported versions as the equivalent of demo versions, and, if they continue using and enjoying the apps, will spring for the paid premium versions in a few weeks. The download numbers don’t seem to be live, and a few developers who’ve been (understandably) obsessing over their numbers all day have told me that they’ve seen them fluctuate — both up and down. I suspect both the non-live updates and downward fluctuations are related to caching. It’ll be interesting to see if Apple continues displaying these numbers going forward. And it’ll be interesting to see what happens tomorrow, after the iPhone 3G goes on sale in Europe and North America, and after (I presume) the iPhone 2.0 OS update is officially released for existing iPhone users. Reliability Given the high daily traffic of the iTunes Store (for music and video), I’m not surprised, but the App Store seemed perfectly responsive all day long. Again, though, tomorrow — after the worldwide launch of the iPhone 3G and the 2.0 OS — will be the real test. I even bought and downloaded an app over EDGE, no problem at all. (Apps purchased over the phone network — EDGE or 3G — are limited to 10 MB, but most apps are well under that.) Re-Downloads If you accidentally delete an app you’ve bought, you can re-download it for free. The App Store UI doesn’t make this clear, but Apple describes it in this KBase article. What you do is act like you’re buying it again — tap the app’s price, and the App Store will recognize that you’ve already purchased it and ask if you wish to download it again. You can also do this from iTunes, to re-download an app to your computer that you originally purchased on your iPhone. Sandboxing Each app and its data are stored together, at least conceptually. When you delete an app from your phone, all of the files belonging to that app are deleted as well — preferences, data, support files, all of it is removed. Further, apps are not able to install files in the system behind your back. Delete an app from the home screen and there’s no sign of it left behind. This doesn’t mean data files are stored within an application’s bundle — they’re not. What it means is that because you, the user, don’t manage anything at the file system level, iTunes and the iPhone OS take care of all of it for you. Foolproof, almost — a very friendly conceptual design for typical users. AOL’s AIM App, and Third-Party Prefs in the System-Wide Settings App I’d sort of forgotten about it after the early demo back at the SDK announcement event in March, but one of today’s top downloads is an official AIM client from AOL — 43,226 downloads at this writing. I found it to be buggy as hell. At one point it was crashing for me on launch, endlessly, until I deleted it and re-installed. It doesn’t do links — URLs in a message aren’t tappable. Some messages came in blank — I could see who they were from, but there was no visible text. One other thing I noticed might prove important when using other applications, as well. AIM’s settings are not accessed within the app itself; rather, AIM adds a settings panel to the system-wide Settings app. What makes this so confusing, though, is that the first time you launch AIM, it (logically) prompts you for an AIM username and password. However, if you make a typo entering either, there’s no visible way to correct it — the account setup screen goes away after your first attempt. To change them, you need to leave AIM and open Settings, then scroll down (third-party panels are at the bottom). AOL is not being untoward in this regard; this is actually what Apple encourages iPhone developers to do. Based on the apps I’ve seen today, though, most developers aren’t doing it. That’s a bad combination — if most third-party apps display their settings screens themselves, then when users do encounter an app that uses the system-wide Settings app, they’re very likely to assume that the app simply doesn’t have any settings. Disclosure: Daring Fireball has been part of The Deck ad network since February 2006.↩
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Found Footage: Engadget hands-on with the iPhone 3G
Filed under: iPhoneWe here at TUAW thought we were crazy about Apple, that is until we heard Engadget's Ryan Block actually flew to New Zealand to be amongst the first in the world to buy an iPhone. He has posted a first look at the phone itself, as well as some of the new features in the 2.0 firmware. There aren't too many surprises to be found in the firmware, but the 'blue orb of GPS' is kinda neat.Head on over to Engadget to check out the video.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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The iPhone Naysayers, One Year Later
Jake Widman at The Industry Standard tracks down a bunch of iPhone doubters and critics from a year ago to see what they have to say now. Rob Enderle chalks up the iPhone’s success entirely to Apple’s marketing acumen. Steve Ballmer, unsurprisingly, did not offer a comment. ★
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First Look: Exposure for the iPhone
Scott McNulty looks at Exposure, Fraser Speirs’s very cool Flickr client for the iPhone: The neatest feature, and the creepiest, is the ‘Near Me’ button. Press it, and through the magic of Core Location, Exposure will show you all the photos on Flickr that were taken near your current location. ★
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MobileMe now really, truly up? No.
Filed under: MobileMeAs Robert mentioned earlier today, the launch of MobileMe has been a rockier road than a Baskin-Robbins convention in the same hotel as a Weight Watchers conference. With .Mac services (including webmail, near and dear to my travelin' heart) down most of the day, all we could do was commiserate with the scores of inbound tip emails and eagerly hit the "refresh" button until the circumstances changed.Looks like we made it, though -- as of 7 pm ET it seems that most Me.com services are up and running from the web side (sync status TBD). Enjoy the cloudy goodness, if you will.... ulp, now it's down again. Y'know, if the idea behind your new service offering is "Exchange for the rest of us," perhaps the first order of business ought to be ensuring some sort of baseline SLA, or an uptime expectation? The last thing Apple needs is the reliability reputation of some other popular communications service...Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Big Bang Sudoku
Filed under: iPod Family, iPhone, App Store Many months ago, I posted about the free web-based iPhone Sudoku. Today, Freeverse released its native iPhone port of this game. Part of their popular Big Bang series, iPhone Sudoku retails for $4.99, offering expanded game-play and multiple language support (English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese). It's a big step up from the web based version. You don't have to struggle with screen scrolling. The game items fit nicely on the screen. There many new features available. You can save and resume games. You can disable the "Show incorrect moves" cheat. You can enable and disable the onboard timer, and so forth. Unfortunately, I was unable to test the software on an actual iPhone so I don't know if the same touch location issues I experienced with the web version have translated to the native version. It's easy to use the mouse and cursor to play the game with its 9-by-9 grid. I can't tell if this will translate to fingers and the touch screen, but you'd sort of assume that it would--otherwise Freeverse would look pretty silly selling an unusable game. Another thing I couldn't judge directly was audio. Freeverse has added some spiffy sound effects to the game but there was no way to test that out. I listened to them in QuickTime after hacking my way down into the application bundle and they included reasonably non-annoying feedback snippets. You can disable sounds in the in-game options if that kind of thing bothers you. All in all, it felt like the equal of any other game currently retailing for $4.99 in the iTunes store. It promises a lot of satisfying game play for Sudoku enthusiasts with a well-designed interface. Freeverse's Big Bang Sudoku is available from AppStore for $4.99. It runs on both the iPhone and iPod touch. Here is the QuickTime version of the above video.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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First Look: Typepad for the iPhone
Filed under: Blogging, iPhone, App StoreI've been blogging for way too long, and for a good chunk of that time my personal blog has been hosted on Six Apart's TypePad. I'm a big fan of the service (though some might recall it was a little flakey in the early days, I'm happy to report I can recall no major downtime in the last 2 years) and that's why I was very excited to see TypePad was coming out with an iPhone native blogging app.Typepad Mobile, as it is called within the program itself, is available now on the App Store for the low, low price of free (of course, Typepad isn't a free service). It is a blogging client that lets you post directly to your TypePad blog from your iPhone as you might have guessed from the name. You can also snap a picture with your iPhone's camera and post that to your blog, or you can post a photo from your iPhone's photo roll in just a few clicks.During the course of my testing this app was very zippy, and it did everything I would expect from a 1.0 release. I hope to see some more blog management features in future updates (being able to approve/delete comments would be very cool).Check out this gallery for a a quick tour of this neat little app.Gallery: Typepad for the iPhoneRead|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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How to Hide Selected Feeds From NetNewsWire for iPhone
Better than nothing, which is what I thought I had. ★
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Japan to abandon iPod copyright fee
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPod FamilyFor years, legislators in Japan have wanted a portion of the price of a digital recording device (up to 3%) to go to recording companies, songwriters and artists. The so-called "iPod tax" has met opposition from electronics manufacturers, as you could imagine. However, it looks like it's not going to happen. A group failed to create an agreement yet again this week, prompting official Masafumi Kiyota to say that "...there is virtually no hope for getting the legislation passed." Certainly good news for consumers.Other electronic devices like minidisk players and DVD recorders have a copyright tax built into the price tag in Japan. The logic (if you want to call it that) is that consumers will use these devices to illegally acquire copyrighted material, so why not have them pay for it before hand, as a preemptive strike? Sounds to me like someone has contempt for their customers.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Pinch Media: iPhone Application Price Distribution
Most are $5 or less, but $10 is a popular price point, too. ★
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NetNewsWire for iPhone
I’ve been using Brent Simmons’s NetNewsWire for the Mac for just about as long as I’ve been publishing Daring Fireball. The iPhone version is one of the apps I’ve been most anticipating, ever since the iPhone shipped a year ago. It doesn’t disappoint, but it’s far from perfect. On the plus side, I’ve found it to be far superior to any web-based feed reading option for the iPhone. And, because its backed by your (free) NewsGator account, it syncs your subscriptions and read/unread status with the Mac version of NetNewsWire (as well as other NewsGator clients like FeedDemon for Windows). But synching has its downsides. The main one for me is that I have a lot of feed subscriptions in NetNewsWire — and most of them are things I have no interest in reading from my iPhone. What I’d prefer is to have the option of synching just a subset of my feed subscriptions through NewsGator — just the ones I’m interested in the most. My other complaint is the built-in web browser. In theory it’s a lot like Twitterrific’s — when you tap a link while reading a feed item, NetNewsWire displays the web page in a built-in browser, so that you don’t have to quit NetNewsWire to switch to Safari every time you follow a link from a feed. But unlike Twitterrific’s, NetNewsWire’s browser replaces the current item view, rather than appearing on top of it. When you go “back”, you go back to the list of feed items, not to the item you were reading. This makes it a pain to follow multiple links from the same feed item: tap link, read web page, back to the list, tap the same item again, tap the next link. Those complaints aside, in the week or so that I’ve been using it, NetNewsWire for the iPhone has proven to be very satisfying for “standing in line at the grocery store, wish I had something good to read for a minute or two” situations. And don’t miss the Clippings feature — tap the “+” button to add any item to your NewsGator “clippings”, which sync across clients just like your subscriptions do. A perfect feature for flagging items you want to come back to on your Mac. ★
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PinchMedia: Most iPhone apps less than five bucks
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, App StoreAbout 70 percent of the apps available today through the App Store are either free or less than $5, according to an analysis of 552 applications performed by PinchMedia. Of the 552 total, they counted 135 free apps. Apps for sale ranged in price from 99 cents to $69.99. The most common price points were: 99 cents (85 apps) $9.99 (82 apps) $4.99 (62 apps) They have a nice bar graph at their site, and plan to keep the data fresh as new apps are added to the App Store. [Via Craig Hockenberry]Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Twitterrific for iPhone
The Iconfactory’s Twitterrific is another of the iPhone apps I’ve been beta testing for a bit. It’s not just a great iPhone app, it’s a great app, period. I prefer its layout and presentation to that of the Mac version. Like its Mac sibling, you can choose between paying for Twitterrific for iPhone ($10) or using it for free, with occasional ads from The Deck. Use it for a bit and you can see exactly why it won an Apple Design Award for the user experience. First, it looks beautiful. But it is very, very usable. My favorite feature is the built-in web browser. When you tap a link in a tweet, the built-in browser slides down from the top. In the browser itself, there are three standard browser buttons — back, forward, refresh — plus another button to leave Twitterrific and open the current page in Safari. Tap “Close” and the built-in browser slides away, putting you right back where you were in the tweet view. If it weren’t for the built-in browser, you’d have to quit Twitterrific each time you tapped a URL. ★
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Livestream of iPhone launch in the Netherlands
Filed under: Cult of Mac, iPhoneI have no idea why, but T-Mobile has livestreaming video of the iPhone 3G launch in the Netherlands (outside a T-Mobile shop in Rotterdam to be precise). If you're in a timezone where the iPhone isn't on sale yet, this might help you pass the time.Thanks, Edwin.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Google Mobile App
Google engineers Alastair Tse’s and Nicholas “Quicksilver” Jitkoff’s free iPhone app is sort of a universal search app, with options to search the entire web, Wikipedia, news, shopping, and your own contacts database on the phone. The UI is very well-done, but I’m not convinced I’ll ever use it instead of MobileSafari’s built-in search. ★
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Here's to the crazy ones: thanks to the unofficial iPhone developers
Filed under: iPhoneBack at the introduction of the iPhone (was it only just over a year ago? How the time flies) we all cast a jaundiced eye at Apple's "develop for the Web" philosophy for extending the platform, while simultaneously wondering if Apple might provide a true SDK for the device of the future; I seem to recall a conversation back on an early talkcast where a couple of people (yours truly included) stated for the record that a Apple SDK was an inevitability, with the only question being exactly when.Now, on the cusp of the official App Store and 2.0 firmware launch and ensuing flood of iPhone/iPod touch native applications, we owe a moment of acknowledgment to the folks who refused to take "Safari" for an answer when it came to making iPhone applications: the jailbreakers and community toolchain developers.Not to take anything away from the diligent work of the Mobile Safari application developers -- many of their results, including TUAW fave Hahlo, stand up well against desktop apps -- but it's hard not to feel some degree of astonishment when a few (sometimes fractious) loosely-affiliated bands of hackers, with some help from our friends, start from the barest hints of access to the iPhone's system and create castles floating on air. Scores of applications (some great, some not-so) including music, games, dictionaries, utilities and not one but two complete or nearly-so ports of the BSD subsystem, complete with sophisticated software deployment capabilities, are currently available for jailbroken iPhones and iPod touch handhelds. This is a notable body of work, and what makes it more surprising is that it's been done over the course of one year, absent any support from the device manufacturer (to say nothing of active discouragement) and with no particular financial incentive to proceed. This is hacking in the original, non-pejorative sense: diving into the innards of the coolest gadget under the sun to figure out how it works and how far you can take it.As exciting as the App Store is, there's a bit of wistfullness amidst the hype and enthusiasm; we are replacing the grimy, rough-edged and self-sustaining Times Square of iPhone application development with the sanitized, "Disney/Apple" reworking of the original. Knowing that a substantial fraction of the jailbreak app developers are under 18 and cannot legitimately join the authorized development program until they come of age, we can only hope that the energy and enthusiasm they brought to the iPhone will not be lost to another mobile platform.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Shazam for the iPhone
Filed under: App StoreSong Identification is very near to my heart. For a while, I tried resurrecting my "Listen.app" iPhone utility but a GraceNote license was out of reach (about the price of a typical condo) and early talks with Shazam (via Tapulous) never went anywhere. So I was absolutely gobsmacked when today I found that Shazam had gone ahead and released a version of its Music Identification Software for the iPhone. You hold it up to record a few seconds and Shazam identifies the music. The software is beautifully designed and a joy to use. You can save your tag history and buy music you like directly from iTunes as well as share the music info with friends via email. Kudos to Shazam for releasing such a beautiful application. Although it's currently free, it will require a service plan with a monthly cost. Going by other countries, expect the service to run about $5 to $10 per month.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Apple TV 2.1 walkthrough
Filed under: iPod Family, Software Update, iPhone, Apple TV, MobileMeToday Apple released the 2.1 update for the Apple TV. The main new features of this update are MobileMe and support for Remote.app (Apple's Remote application for iPhone/iPod touch users). Telling readers what the update did is one thing, but showing is a completely different story, that's why we went the extra mile to bring you a walkthrough of the new features in the 2.1 update. So check out our gallery of Apple TV 2.1 screenshots.Gallery: Apple TV 2.1 updatePermalink|Email this|Comments
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First Look: Exposure for the iPhone
Filed under: iPhone, App StoreIt seems like only yesterday I was writing about Exposure, the iPhone native Flickr browser, in a rather circumspect manner. Now that the App Store is out I took Exposure (available in a free version and a premium version) for a spin and I really liked what I saw.Before we go any further I should point out that I love browsing Flickr and have always found Flickr's mobile site to be a bit lacking (that's a nice way of saying it sucks). Exposure lets you do everything you can do on Flickr's website and more. The neatest feature, and the creepiest, is the 'Near Me' button. Press it, and through the magic of Core Location, Exposure will show you all the photos on Flickr that were taken near your current location.Check out the gallery for a full tour of this great iPhone app.Exposure comes in a free ad supported version, and a premium version sans ads is available for $9.99.Gallery: ExposureRead|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Mac 101: spell check errors
Filed under: OS, Tips and tricks, Mac 101There's a funny post at The Apple Blog today that points out a few typos that give Mac OS X Leopard's built-in spell checker a bit of trouble. For instance, the error "instrucitons" suggests "isntrucitons" as well as "instructions", and "applicaticataion" when "applicatication" is typed instead of "application." There are a few more in their list.I've noticed that my iPhone always suggests "he'll" when I want to type "hell" (yes, I type "hell" enough to have noticed this). Of course, this is simple to fix. You can correct these errors for good by right-clicking (or Control-click) on the correct spelling and select "Learn spelling" from the contextual menu. Use this same method to add uncommon words, like surnames, etc.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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The MobileMe rollercoaster
Filed under: MobileMeMobileMe has been up and down since late last night like so much rancid Chinese food. We know just about as much as you do: we're getting tips that it's up -- no, wait -- it's down. And now it's back up! And now it's down. I was briefly able to log in and explore Contacts and iDisk, but was shut out when the site went back down. What I saw was pretty nifty, but without the larger context of app integration, I can't really form an educated opinion on it yet. I am planning, however, on writing a full-scale review for this weekend. Hopefully the problems will clear up by then -- or at least long enough for me to write the story. We'll keep you posted on the continuing ups and downs of MobileMe as we get more information. I'm hoping the act of writing this post will provide just enough schadenfreude to get the service running for good. Thanks to everyone for the uninterrupted updates on this one!Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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App Store now officially available
Filed under: iTS, App StoreThe App Store has been accessible for awhile now, but it is now official. Fire up your copy of iTunes and you'll be greeted with a new addition to the left hand navigation: App Store. As with the other sections of the iTunes Store you'll find a number of sections: New Apps, Top Apps, Top Free Apps, and more.The iPhone 2.0 firmware hasn't been released as of yet, but browsing the App Store should keep your mind off that for a little while.What is the first app you're going to download?Thanks to everyone who sent this in.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Found Footage: iTunes goes even more international
Filed under: iTS, iTunes, App Store With the introduction of the App Store, iTunes has taken an international leap. It's more internationaler than ever before with new, exciting internationality that ranges from Mexico to Qatar to Israel to Russia. It's internationalpalooza! If you've been waiting for iTunes to come to your country, if you've been saying "Hmmmm. Could iTunes be even more international?", then it's time to celebrate. Because if Apple has gone through the trouble of setting up marketing in Peru, Poland and Pakistan, likely as not there will be even more store avenues heading down the road to follow the initial App Store launch. Did App Store make it to your country? Let us know in the comments.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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iPhone OS 2.0 Screenshots
Great tip from Gina Trapani: With the iPhone 2.0 software installed, hold down the Home button and press the Lock button and your screen will flash — and an image of your phone’s screen gets saved to your Camera Roll’s images. ★
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Taking the Plunge: Updating to iPhone 2.0 Software Early
Filed under: iTunes, Software Update, iPhone, App StoreAs was previously pointed out here at TUAW, the 2.0 firmware update for current iPhone and iPod Touch users has leaked out a bit early. Some have already taken the plunge and installed it. Still others are waiting for the "official" version from Apple to be released before going ahead and installing it. I'm not one of those people. In the interest of doing something so readers of TUAW won't have to take the chance of a bricked iPhone, I downloaded and installed the new firmware this morning as soon as it was available. The update process went smoothly and, as expected, all of the media was erased from my iPhone. Fortunately, once the iPhone restarted and began its first sync after the update, all of my previous media (music, podcasts, video) was restored and able to be used again.At first glance, some of the changes included in the new iPhone interface in iTunes 7.7 include an 'Applications' tab and a button to set up your iPhone to work with Apple's new MobileMe service which, as of this moment, isn't actually up and running yet. Also, after downloading several apps from the new App Store including AIM, Facebook, Google and Twitterific Premium, the iPhone was able to use those new applications without issue.I also downloaded and installed other applications such as Salesforce Mobile, Net News Wire and Remote but so far, have not tested those. Also, and this particular change in the iPhone 2.0 interface made me very happy, there is now a dedicated 'Contacts' button allowing you to reach your contacts without having to go through the 'Phone' button first.So, it appears that, at least in my case, the iPhone 2.0 firmware is a success. As the day progresses I'll let you know what else I find. Meantime, if you have questions, feel free to drop them in the comments.Update: As pointed out by commenters, this update is for the iPhone only. The iPod touch update will be a paid download from the iTunes store for $9.95 and will include the January Update apps, as Robert noted earlier today.Permalink|Email this|Comments
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PCalc for iPhone
James Thomson’s $10 PCalc is one of the iPhone apps I’ve been lucky enough to be beta testing for a few weeks, and, while I’ve seen a few iPhone apps that are really good, PCalc is the best so far. The iPhone’s built-in Calculator app is much improved over the 1.0 version, but it’s got nothing on PCalc, which offers: unit conversions, paper tape, hex/oct/bin modes, and more. UI cleverness includes a very intuitive visualization of parenthesis stacking when you use the “(” and “)” keys — the only other calculator app that’s this nice is PCalc for the Mac. And speaking of keys, PCalc’s work just like the iPhone’s keyboard — you not only get sound when you tap them (the built-in Calculator 2.0 finally has sound now too), but also get the large-type pop-up showing exactly which key you hit. The keys feel perfect. ★
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The App Store in Your Pants
Jacqui Cheng walks through the process of buying/downloading an app from the iPhone’s App Store app. ★
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iPhone 101: Taking screenshots
Filed under: TUAW Tips, iPhone, iPhone 101With the advent of the new iPhone firmware 2.0, users who have installed it report that you are now able to easily take and share screenshots of your iPhone -- all without downloading any additional software. To take a screenshot, just hold down the home button while quickly pressing the sleep/wake button at the top of the phone. The screen will flash and an image will be saved in your Camera Roll. You can easily share your screenshot by e-mailing it using the share option in the Photos app. For more iPhone tips and tricks like this, check out the iPhone 101 section here on TUAW.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Flipswap - Good for You, Good for the Environment
Flipswap is a service that allows you to send in your old phone for free and get paid for it. They send your old phone to another country where someone less fortunate will be able to use it (while also covering shipping both ways). They will put your phone in a happy place: If your cell phone is in working condition or can be repaired, we make sure it goes to a place where it can be reused. If your cell phone is broken beyond repair, we recycle it using the most environmentally friendly methods currently available. It is a better deal than just tossing out your old phone. In addition to finding a new owner for your phone, Flipswap will also plant a tree for each phone donated, so you can feel more environmentally conscious! So how do they figure out how much your phone is worth? A complicated algorithm “that allows [them] to offer you a real time trade-in value for any phone.” My three cell phones added up to about $50, which is not bad considering they are old and partially beat up. So whether you are done with your first iPhone and gearing up for the 3G, or you just want to get rid of your regular cell phone, you can use this and maybe get some more money to add to your 3G fund.
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Some early free gems in the App Store
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Productivity, Freeware, iPhone, App StoreLike Erica, I've been poking around the App Store all morning. Unlike Erica, I'm not brave enough to install the firmware without the official word from Apple, but in the meantime, here's a few free apps in there that are definitely worth a download right away.Advent: A free version of Colossal Cave Adventure, on the iPhone day one.Phonesaber: Yes. This is exactly what you think it is. And it's free.Light: Don't spend money on one of those other flashlight programs -- get Erica's original for completely free. (In fact, you might as well go ahead and get all of her apps, they're all great.)MixMeister Scratch: Free vinyl scratching over your iPod touch or iPhone's background music. Silly, but fun for aspiring (or, more specifically) wannabe DJs.Zenbe Lists: A pretty good-looking free alternative to all the other To-Do applications out there.???: I have no idea what this is (looks like some kind of Memory-type game), but it's free and it's hilariously beautiful. Update: Actually, this looks like the non-English version of Jirbo Match. But still, it looks like amazing and colorful fun.NetNewsWire: This and AIM aren't really hidden, but they're must-haves, of course.Have more that you've seen? Link us in the comments. I may not have the ability to install apps on the phone yet, but when I get it, I'll be ready.Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Paging Returns to the Twitter API
Lost amid the iPhone 2.0 and App Store hoopla: Twitter has apparently restored paging to its API, which means third-party Twitter clients should now be able to load more than just the 20 most recent tweets in your timeline. ★
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Browse the App Store in iTunes 7.7 (iTunes Link)
Seems like some people are having trouble getting the App Store to appear in iTunes 7.7. This link should do the trick. ★
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Apple Remote: Remote Control Done Right
Bill Bumgarner on the new Remote app: This changes the game in my living room. Completely. My media center’s remote is now more powerful than any computer I bought in the 1990s. ★
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Playing with AppStore
Filed under: iPod Family, iPhone, App StoreSo I've downloaded the new 2.0 firmware, upgraded iTunes to 7.7 and went wild downloading free apps to my iPhone. Here's how the first batch stacked up. iFob Social organizer sort of thing, that lets you beam your info to other iFob-enabled users. It's not a bad idea but it's eerily reminiscent of using the Zune. Sure you can connect to others but there are no others yet to connect to. In a Facebook/Twitter world, I don't see this one catching on. Jared Jared is the same Freeverse app that they've previously released for OS X, but now Jared sings badly on the iPhone as well. I am completely unable to talk about this objectively because it's a love it or hate it app. Me? I love it. It's perfectly and addictively moronic and I just love me some Jared. Your mileage may vary. Cube Runner Cube Runner by Andy Qua is exactly what a free iPhone app should be. It's simple, fun to play and has no unneeded bells and whistles. It's a simple accelerometer based game. You guide yourself through a minefield of cubes by tilting the phone. Nice. Remote Apple's free remote tool lets you use your iPhone to control iTunes and Apple TV playback. Perfect and free. Rotary Dialer Joshua Minor's Rotary Dialer is a great idea whose delivery falls short. It's not very usable (I tried) and it provides no retro click-click sounds as you dial. I guess it's a cute thing to show off to friends once or twice but it won't be making a home on my iPhone. T4Two free If you're looking for a cute free pong game, you could do worse than T4Two. It offers a basic pong interface with a touch-draggable paddle and accelerometer awareness. Developer Masayuki Akamatsu did a nice job with this and offers several other free AppStore apps including a beat-tapping utility and a calculator.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Enterprise Rails Tapping
Jesper spotted something unusual amidst today’s avalanche of Apple releases: Perhaps the weirdest creature to come out of the iPhone 2.0/3G launch paraphernalia is the iPhone Configuration Web Utility. It is a Rails app using SproutCore, downloaded and installed on your local machine. It literally starts a server on port 3000, as a service using WEBrick on Windows and as a launchd job using Mongrel on Mac. ★
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Apple Launches MobileMe and Apple TV 2.1 Updates
The new iPhone Remote app works like a charm with my Apple TV. Very slick. ★
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2.0 debuts, waiting on jailbreak
Filed under: iPod Family, iPhone With Apple's release of iTunes 7.7 and the new 2.0 firmware for iPod touch and iPhone, everything seems to be running a day early. Over at hacker central, the iPhone dev team guys are still in wait mode. For those of you looking for a glimpse of hackage to come, they've posted a number of screen shots, showing all kinds of nifty Apple-unapproved applications.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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E-Books as ‘Apps’
Raven Zachary: Almost 8% of the apps on the App Store right now are individual public domain ebooks by AppEngines! Apple, please create an eBook category. The other overloaded category, as Koz quips, is task/to-do/”GTD” apps. ★
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iFixit breaks down an iPhone 3G
Filed under: Apple, iPhone The wacky folks at iFixit are up to their destructive ways once more. They've gotten their hands on an iPhone 3G and they did what any normal geek would do: tore it apart and posted pics on the internet. The biggest news from the break down is that while the battery isn't user replaceable (as we have all known for a long time now) it isn't soldered on so replacing it will be a tiny bit easier for folks brave enough to attempt it.This isn't the first time iFixit has gotten their hands on Apple gear and took it apart. Previous TUAW coverage here: MacBook iPhone (first gen) iPod nano/classic MacBook Pro iPod Shuffle MacBook Air iPod touch Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Words that Leopard’s spellchecker chokes on
We trust spellcheckers to be right, right? We expect that the spellchecker will yield an accurate correction, or at the least, real words. Oddly enough, though, I've stumbled upon a few misspellings that cause Leopard's built-in spellchecker to throw up some amusing–though incorrect–results (a friend shared one with me; I discovered two of them). Mind you, I never added any of these to my spellchecker dictionary. These are all using the default English spelling dictionary; I even checked while using a new user account. At any rate, here they are, in no particular order: The typo: instrucitons The intended word: instructions The suggested spelling: isntrucitons The notes: The spellchecker does offer the correct spelling as one of the choices; how isntrucitons ended up in there is beyond me… The typo: applicatication The intended word: application The suggested spelling: applicaticataion The notes: FAIL. Also, Dictionary.com offers up upland cotton as a possible alternate for applicaticataion and no alternates whatsoever for applicatication. That said, it was one heck of a typo on my part in the first place, but that's no excuse for making up words! The typo: positiove The intended word: positive The suggested spelling: positionve The notes: Like the first one, the correct word was among the choices, but again, Leopard decides to have a little fun with our minds. I'm guessing these are just bugs in the spellchecker. Hey, at least this bug is mostly harmless! Are there any words that you have noticed that spellchecker gets incorrect? Let us know in the comments.
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iTunes Remote
“The free application that turns iPod touch and iPhone into a remote control for iTunes and Apple TV.” ★
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Confirmed: iPod touch 2.0 software to include 'January Upgrade'
Filed under: iPod Family, App StoreIn an update to their knowledge base article about the subject this morning, Apple has confirmed that the 2.0 firmware will include Mail, Stocks, Maps, Weather and Notes. There had been some speculation about this earlier this month. Also -- when it's available, Apple said the iPhone 2.0 Software Update for iPod Touch will be available at http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/appstore. Currently, the page points to the same "coming soon" page that we've come to know and love, but I'm sure checking back often wouldn't hurt. Apple also confirmed, as you might imagine, that the January Software Upgrade itself is now no longer available. iPod models shipped after January 15 included the upgrade, while models shipped before did not. Users of those earlier models had to pay $20 for the suite of five apps.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Twitterrific released in two flavors for iPhone
Filed under: App StoreThe friendly friends at The Iconfactory have released two editions of Twitterrific for the App Store: one is a free version supported by advertising, and the other is a paid version that omits the ads. Twitterrific (the free version) periodically shows ads via The Deck, similar to its free counterpart for the desktop. Twitterrific Premium is $9.99, and omits the advertising. It also includes an extra display theme. Both apps are available via the App Store. I'd personally like to congratulate the ADC-award-winning team on their efforts: It looks great, and I'm very much looking forward to using the software on my iPod touch.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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iTunes 7.7 and the App Store Now Open for Business
If you fire up Software Update, you will see that iTunes 7.7 is available. You can find applications in the iTunes Store, but you can't purchase them unless you have 7.7 installed. The new update is “exclusively for iPhone and iPod Touch” so if you don't have either one, you don't need to update. You may need to go to preferences and check the “Applications” box to make it show up in your sidebar. On one computer it didn't show up automatically, but did on the other. The App Store has been a bit finnicky. In the Applications section in iTunes, you can choose “Get More Applications” and go straight to the App Store, but it hasn't worked all the time. If you search for an app in the iTunes Store, you can get to it, if the App Store link is not working. As of this writing, software for the iPhone and iPod Touch has not been released, so while you can purchase all the apps you want, you still won't be able to get them to work on your iPhone. Soon, hopefully, it will be available.
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iPhone 3G first look, what do you want to know?
Filed under: Cellphones Well, we got one from the fine folks at Vodafone NZ. Yeah, we'll admit, between the early peek at the not too drastically changed firmware, guided tours, and announcement hands-on, there's not a lot of mystery to the iPhone 3G at this point. But if you've got any burning questions we can answer with our shiny new Vodafone NZ iPhone 3G, hit us up in comments and we'll update here with our findings. Stick around, more coming.Reader questionsLeon: Does it feel any different in your hand than 1st gen iPhone?We definitely do like the way it feels. It's a little more slick (or slippery, depending on how wet your palms are with anticipation and/or summer sweat) because of the plastic back, but it's well curved and comfortable. It doesn't feel flimsy or plasticy at all.Santz24: How wildly does it dance on the table compared to the first iPhone?If you're asking how the vibrate function compares to the original, we got the two buzzing side by side and they feel pretty much identical.If you're asking whether it wobbles on the table as you use it, yes, it does -- but the amount of wobble depends on the type of surface. But even on a hard, flat surface it's not really that bad, and we're usually sticklers for that kind of thing.Tom: Does it have Flash support?Yeah, seems like a fruitless question that we all know the answer to -- but we tested it anyway, and the answer is no, Apple didn't sneak in Flash support so far as we can tell.More after the break.Gallery: iPhone 3G first lookContinue reading iPhone 3G first look, what do you want to know?Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Circulator: iPhone loan tracking
Filed under: Software, Cool tools, iPhoneWhen we talked to TheCodingMonkeys at WWDC, they made a cryptic reference to an iPhone application they had in the works. They've finally revealed what they've been diligently preparing: Circulator, an iPhone application to help you track everything you lend and borrow. TheCodingMonkeys are the brains behind SubEthaEdit and the open source utility, Port Map (TUAW coverage here). Most recently, they've been working with Boinx Software on the upcoming BoinxTV. They've found the time, somehow, to create what looks like a very useful addition to the growing collection of iPhone productivity applications. Circulator lets you track the things you lend and borrow to and from your friends. It's not specific to any type of item; you can track everything from dollars and cents to DVDs and power tools. You can add images with the iPhone's camera or from your photo library and keep a history of transactions for repeat use. The portability of the application is what will make it the most useful; you'll be able to record that $20 you handed to your buddy right there in front of him, mercilessly crushing any hopes he had that you'd forget in a week. What good would such an application be without the ability to automate the act of reminding your friends of such debts? Circulator can send an "overdue" SMS or email to debtors, with templates available for the tone of the reminder: nice, neutral or angry. Nothing says "I want my orbital sander back" like frequent, angry, software-generated emails. Of course, this kind of record keeping could also help friends stay friends by avoiding misunderstandings and unfounded accusations. Circulator will cost $5.99 at the App Store. If you've lost track of more than six dollars worth of loaned items in your life, you might want to check it out. For more information and a video overview, visit the Circulator page at TheCodingMonkeys' website.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Get your 2.0 firmware on ... early!
Filed under: iPod Family, Software Update, iPhone, App StoreJust as the MobileMe software was found early, so has the iPhone 2.0 firmware! Yes, you heard me correctly, you can now download the long-awaited, much-anticipated, 2.0 firmware. MacRumors reports that you can download the 2.0 firmware by clicking this link (iPhone1,2_2.0_5A347_Restore.ipsw). Before you just up and download this random file from Apple's website, note this knowledge base article in which Apple notes that your iPhone/iPod touch will be erased in order to perform the 2.0 install. "Normally if you choose to update, the iPhone or iPod touch software is updated but your settings and media are not affected. If your device currently has a software version prior to 2.0 (1.x) and you are updating to software version 2.0 or later, all data on your device will be erased in order to perform install the new software. In this case, iTunes will offer to create a one-time media backup of your device depending on what content is on your device and what content is stored in the iTunes Library you are connected to. You should ensure that you have enough free space on your Mac or PC to accommodate a backup that matches the capacity of your iPhone or iPod touch (4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB, or 32 GB) if you proceed with the this backup," explains Apple.To install this update, you must download the ipsw file and iTunes 7.7. Open iTunes and clicking the option + clicking the check for update button will prompt iTunes to ask for the ipsw location; once you've done that, iTunes will begin the firmware update. Auntie TUAW's note: we would recommend you wait for the "official release" of the 2.0 firmware; it's not a good idea to go poking around on Apple's servers and download random files for installs. [via MacRumors]Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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iPhone firmware 2.0 is live (plus hands-on)
Filed under: Cellphones That's right. If you've been dying for a round of Super Monkey Ball, now's your chance. The firmware is available only through a direct link, not iTunes, so if you want it, follow the read link to sweet, succulent 2.0 paradise. We're loading it up as we speak, so we'll let you know what's good ASAP.Update: Okay, all systems are go! Updating with pics after the break. We're installing AIM and some other apps on to test -- will have photos in just a moment.Update 2: Looks like our upload of Super Monkey Ball caused iTunes to crash out! We've got the wheel, folks.Update 3: Alright, we've got it syncing again -- but it's taking forever. Hard to tell if this is due to apps uploading or not. It's like watching paint dry.Update 4: Our bad -- music was syncing. Apps are up and running smoothly -- take a look at the new batch of pics in the gallery below. Also, the update has been tested on both a jailbroken and non-jailbroken phone and it's working as it should. Gallery: iPhone firmware 2.0 is live (plus hands-on)[Via MacRumors]Continue reading iPhone firmware 2.0 is live (plus hands-on)Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Apple posts App Store info: syncing and App Store troubleshooting
Filed under: iTS, iTunes, Apple, iPhone, App Store Apple has posted to KB articles that might be of some interest to the iPhone crazed out there: Syncing Applications from the App Store and Troubleshooting applications purchased from the App Store (which basically says you should delete the troublesome app and re-install it).The syncing article details how you get apps that you download from iTunes onto your iPhone (it functions in much the same way as syncing podcasts or music, you tell iTunes which apps, some or all, and there you go!). It also tells us what happens when you purchase an app directly on an iPhone and then sync to iTunes. The above message will pop up and ask if you want to transfer the apps to iTunes. If you do it will put them in the new Applications section of iTunes. Interestingly, if you sync your iPhone with an instance of iTunes that is not authorized with the same account as the one you used to buy an app, and you transfer said app to this unauthorized iTunes library the app transfers to iTunes but is deleted from the iPhone.Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Two Apple iPhone apps: Remote Control and Texas Hold'em
Filed under: iPod Family, iTunes, Apple, iPhone, App Store The App Store is kinda live, live enough that we can see the two applications that Apple has to offer. The first app is called 'Remote' [iTunes link] and oddly enough it lets you control iTunes on your Mac from your iPhone. You can stop, start, and pause music, and browse your library... all via your iPhone or iPod touch. Remote requires the use of a Wi-Fi network, and is free.The other Apple app is Texas Hold'em [iTunes link], which is the first in a very long list of card games that third parties are going to be making for the iPhone. You can play Texas Hold'em (a type of Poker) against the app's built-in opponents or against your friends over Wi-Fi (your friends must be running Texas Hold'em on their iPhones as well). Multiplayer supports up to 9 players so you can finally get rid of all those messy cards you have! Texas Hold'em costs $4.99.Thanks to everyone who sent this in.Permalink|Email this|Comments
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Tech Stocks: Apple, Microsoft, IBM among early sector advancers
Technology stocks rise in early action, with most sector leaders notching gains in an attempt to recover from a big sell-off in the prior session.
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First Looks: ZAGG InvisibleShield for iPhone 3G
Sold in three versions, ZAGG's new InvisibleShield for iPhone 3G provides as much coverage for the new device as you prefer: a face-only shield sells for $15, a rear-only shield for $19, and a full body protector for $25. The shields are made, as always, from a completely clear but textured film that has previously been used to protect helicopter blades, protecting whatever is underneath from scratch and scuff damage. ZAGG bills the film as .2mm thick,…
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Dead Zones and the iPhone
We need somebody to create a Web 2.0 site where we, the masses, can report the signal strengths of our cellphone carriers.
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App Store for iPhone already a hit with developers
Apple CEO Steve Jobs expected to launch his App Store the online venue for third-party iPhone and iPod Touch applications with ...
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First Looks: NLU Products TatSkinz
Like many other stickers we've seen for past iPods, NLU Products' new TatSkinz ($15 each) are one-packs of front and rear decorative stickers for various iPod and iPhone models. Rather than claiming to offer comprehensive protection, NLU bills TatSkinz as a nice visual add-on to its fully protective clear skins, allowing you to choose from different patterns that cover most of each device's front and back, but not their sides, tops, or bottoms....…
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MobileMe is live (mostly), with bonus Apple TV support
The transition to MobileMe happened in the wee hours of the morn and the updates are available for some, but it appears there are some hiccups.Read More...
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Apple releases iPhone Configuration Utilities
Filed under: Software, Software Update, iPhoneApple has just released a few tools that are going to make folks looking to deploy many iPhones at once very happy: iPhone Configuration Web Utility 1.0 for Mac iPhone Configuration Web Utility 1.0 for Windows iPhone Configuration Utility 1.0 for Mac OS X All three of these utilities allow you to create a configuration file that can be emailed or posted to a web site. This file, once loaded onto an iPhone, will configure a number of settings including, and I quote, 'device security policies, VPN configuration information, Wi-Fi settings, APN settings, Exchange account settings, mail settings, and certificates that permit iPhone and iPod touch to work with your enterprise systems.'The iPhone Configuration Web Utility (for both Mac and Windows) simply let you create these config files (which are XML files) while the Mac only iPhone Config Utility lets you create config files, as well as access logs, and makes it possible to install apps on iPhones.These apps are going to make any enterprise iPhone users happy, and best of all they are free.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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iPhone 3G international launch lineblog
Filed under: CellphonesWe know there are people lined up all over the world for the iPhone 3G -- so if you're among the intrepid souls out there waiting to get yours, send in your photos (and stories) for our international launch lineblog. Just hit us up at iphone@engadget.com. The iPhone 3G has landed -- in New Zealand anyway. Let us tell you, it was an absolute madhouse. Everyone kept mentioning that for low-key Kiwis, this kind of thing was total pandemonium. Above: iPhone Jonny getting completely swarmed by reporters after he walked out of the Auckland Voda store. (And for the record, the other two midnight launch stores hadn't opened yet while Jonny was getting his.) More live launch action after the break.Continue reading iPhone 3G international launch lineblogPermalink|Email this|Comments
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TextExpander: 20% Discount for Hawk Wings readers
The good people at Smile on my mac, who make TextExpander, have made a kind offer. The company are providing a special discount of 20% for Hawk Wings readers, which brings the price of the app down from its usual price tag of USD 29.95 to USD 23.96. Further, they are willing to extend the discount to the TextExpander Family Pack, for up to five users in one household, bringing the price of that bundle down to USD 35.96 (usually USD 44.95) To get the special, just click on this link: http://www.smileonmymac.com/hawkwings/ The offer expires at the end of the month, 31 July 2008. What do you get for your money? Above all, you get your life back, as the snippet manager and typing expander saves me (and my fingers) ten or fifteen minutes a day. Getting that back for a one-off charge of USD 23.96 is a bargain indeed. See these Hawk Wings posts for more TextExpander goodness: 1. How to boilerplate frequent email replies 2. HTML snippet file for TextExpander 3. Clever TextExpander clipboard snippet trick 4. TextExpander auto-corrections list 5. TextExpander: Update, Tips and Tricks Tags: Apple, Apple Mail, HTML, mail.app, Productivity, snippet manager, textexpander, time saving, typing Related posts TextExpander auto-corrections list HTML snippet file for TextExpander What's wrong with Apple's Enterprise Strategy TextExpander bargain today on MacZOT! Textexpander 1.4: Flexible delimiters, old logo
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Apple TV 2.1 update goes live, adds MobileMe support
Filed under: Software Update, Apple TV, MobileMeTo commemorate the launch of MobileMe, Apple has updated the Apple TV to work with the new service. The new update includes a new MobileMe sub-menu in the Photos menu.MacRumors is reporting that you will also be able to control your Apple TV using the free Remote app from the iTunes Store. You can download this update by going to Settings > General > Software Update. If you notice anything that we haven't, be sure to leave a comment! Thanks to everyone who sent this in!Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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App Store not quite launched yet, but you can look at it
Okay, so the App Store is a little hidden because it's not officially out yet, and you can't even transfer the applications to your iPhone or iPod touch yet either. But you can go to it in iTunes and look at all the purty icons, and that's pretty fun, right?Read More...
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Apple releases OS X MobileMe update
Filed under: Internet, Software Update, .Mac, MobileMeApple has released a new "MobileMe" update that allows your OS X system to "see" and interact with the new MobileMe service. As many may know, the change over from .Mac to MobileMe happened last night into the wee hours of the morning. This software adds the new MobileMe system preference pane and adds MobileMe support for Mail.app. We have uploaded a gallery of images for your viewing pleasure showing the subtle changes in System Preferences."The Mac OS X Update For MobileMe is recommended for users running Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.4 and includes general system fixes that enhance your Mac for MobileMe," Apple says.You can download this update by opening Software Update (Apple menu > Software Update). Gallery: MobileMe OS X Update[via GearLive]Permalink|Email this|Comments
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News: Apple posts iPhone Configuration Utility for enterprise
Apple has released three versions of its new iPhone Configuration Utility that allow enterprise users to create configuration profiles which can then be used to setup multiple iPhones. Configuration profiles contain “device security policies, VPN configuration information, Wi-Fi settings, APN settings, Exchange account settings, mail settings, and certificates” that allow the devices to work with enterprise systems. The iPhone Configuration…
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iTunes 7.7 released: App Store support, remote application
Apple has released iTunes 7.7 one day before the iPhone 3G's launch in the States because, well, other sides of the world are getting the iPhone before us. The newest version of the software supports the App Store and Mobile Me, and we'll even be getting an App Store freebie from Apple with the download. Read More...
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Apple's new iPhone 3G: Still not perfect, but really close
Extra, extra: iPhone 3G: The Sequel, is worth the wait. It's cheaper, faster and a lot friendlier for business.
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News: Familiar games, developers appear in iPhone App Store
The first collection of iPhone Games appeared in the App Store today, and for now, both the games and major developers will be extremely familiar to past iTunes Store customers. In addition to Apple, which has re-released its Texas Hold'em game for the third time at $5, the following titles have reappeared in updated form: Gameloft has re-released Bubble Bash ($8), upping the resolution of the ball-shooting game for iPods and increasing the…
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App Store hands-on, notable apps
Filed under: Cellphones The App Store is live, and we're taking a peek around before it implodes from curious users trying to download dozens of apps for their iPhones and iPods touch (or is that iPod touches?).Already users can start downloading their programs (which are downloaded to their /Users/[user]/Music/iTunes/Mobile Applications/ directory as .ipa files), but you can't do anything with them until you get the 2.0 firmware (or an iPhone 3G).So far everything is really smooth and easy to use, although it's easy to tell that the enormous amount of applications that will be available in the coming months (and years) will become a difficult thing to trudge through. It's a high-class problem for Apple, but hopefully it won't be too overwhelming to find something good if you don't know exactly what you're looking for.We'll be keeping tally of some of the more noteworthy launch apps, although many we've already seen: AIM - duh Google Mobile - "a great place to start your search" Twitterrific - Finally, a legit, standalone Twitter client Bomberman Touch Epocrates Rx - An app to help identify "mystery pills" you might find. Very helpful. We'll be updating with more info as we go!Gallery: App Store hands-on, notable appsPermalink|Email this|Comments
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The App Store is up...kind of
Filed under: iTS, iTunesEarly this morning, Apple officially released iTunes 7.7. After launching the application for the first time, I saw the little "Applications" icon in the sidebar. I clicked it as quickly as my little mouse would move, only to find a list of the iPod applications I had previously bought and nothing more. Looks like it's not up. Not so fast.The folks at MacRumors noticed that is up, just hidden. All you've got to do is search for the name of an applicaiton and you'll be brought right to it. Super Monkey Ball, for instanse [App Store Link]. They can't be transfered to an iPhone or iPod touch as of this writing, but expect that to change soon.Have fun poking around, and stay tuned to TUAW for more in-depth coverage.Read|Permalink|Email this|Comments
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id's Hollenshead: Apple "has not followed through" on gaming